Telephone cord take-up



July 25, 1939. J. T. HELLMANN TELEPHONE CORD TAKE-UP Filed May 225 193! 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jay 27/6 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS July 25, 1939. J. T. HELLMANN TELEPHONE com) TAKE-UP Filed May 25, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z/irmggg Jay 7.776

July 25, 1939. J. T. HELLMANN TELEPHONE CORD TAKE-UP Filed May 25, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jay THa/Zma July 25, 1939. J. T. HELLMANN TELEPHONE CORD TAKE-UP 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 25, 1957 Jay THE/[warm ATTORN EYS Patented July 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a device adapted for use in connection with telephones either of the general desk type or the socalled hand-set type that will serve not only as a means for supporting the telephone but will likewise operate to take up the receiver cord when the receiver is not in use and. to pay it out easily to the extent necessary to meet the convenience of the user; to provide a take-up for the purpose indicated in which twisting or wrinkling of the cord will be avoided and in which the latter will mainly be housed when the receiver is not in use; to provide a take-up which may be readily applied to the telephone with which it is to be used and without the necessity of skill on the part of the operator in making the installation; and generally to provide a telephone cord take-up which, for the functions to be performed, is comparatively simple, susceptible of comparatively cheap manufacture and of a character that is free from the disarrangement of the parts when in use.

With this object in view, the invention consists in a construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings but to which the invention is not to be restricted. Continued use in practice may dictate certain changes or alterations and the right is claimed to make any which come within the scope of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention applied in operative position to a telephone of the hand-set type.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the invention with the telephone removed.

Figure 3 is a vertical diametrical sectional View.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the composition mat.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the top or cap plate.

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the structure of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a bottom plan view of the structure of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the cord gathering disk.

Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the structure of Figure 5.

Figure 10 is an edge elevational View of the structure of Figure 5.

Figure 11 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the reel actuating spring and housing.

Figure 12 is a bottom plan view of the reel.

Figure '13 is an end view of the shaft on which the reel, gathering disk and parts are mounted.

Figure 14 is an elevational view of the said shaft.

Figure 15 is a top plan view of the cap for the lower bearing of the take-up reel.

Figure 16 is a side elevational View of the entire structure assembled but looking at the face of the cord guide.

Figure 1'7 is a sectional view on the plane indicated by the line l1ll of Figure 16.

Figure 18 is a detail bottom plan View looking at the cord guide.

Figure 19 is a view illustrating the arrangement of the cord with relation to the reel and gathering disk.

Figure 20 is an elevational view of the structure of Figure 19.

Figure 21 is a plan view of the hold-back ratchet.

When the invention is in use, the telephone I0 is mounted upon and clamped to the structure and the receiver cord I I is contained mainly on the reel I2, being wound around the latter, over the transfer roll l3, with several convolutions around the small stationary reel I4.

The stationary reel [4 is formed as a central pendent portion of the top plate I5 and is provided with a web l6 depressed below the plane of the top plate l5 so as to provide a seat for the ratchet housing ring [1, the ring being inverted in placing it in its seat so as to dispose the web portion l8 upwardly where it acts as a cover for the ratchet wheel IS. The ring H is firmly secured in place in its seat but is removable, flat head screws 20 passing through body holes in the web 16 engaging threaded holes in the ring IT. The pawl 2! is pivotally mounted at 22 in the ring I! and is yieldingly held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel l9 by means of the fiat spring 23, the pawl and the spring being mounted in a clearance space formed by milling out the ring.

The function of the pawl and ratchet wheel appears hereinafter.

The ratchet wheel having its comparatively small hub portion resting on top of the web I6 acts as a support for the shaft 24 by reason of the screw 25 which is threaded into the end of the shaft after being passed through a washer 26. The ratchet wheel rotates with the shaft, the latter being provided with a squared upper end 21 entering a correspondingly shaped eye in the ratchet wheel. 4

The web I6 is formed with a central pendent sleeve 28 which acts as a bearing for the shaft when the latter rotates and exteriorly acts as a seat for the ball bearing 29 with which the gathering disk 30 is equipped, the ball bearing being inserted in a hub portion of the disk and the latter being within the reel |4 below the web I6.

The shaft 24, where it passes through the bearing I8 is circular so that it may rotate under certain conditions but below the lower end of the bearing 28 is formed with a cross-sectionally square portion 24a by means of which the reel actuating spring is operatively mounted.

The reel actuating spring 3| is the ordinary coiled spring ribbon of which the inner convolution is anchored to the periphery of a thimble 32 and the outer extremity secured to an anchor finger 33 mounted in the wall of the spring housing 34, the latter being provided with a removable cover 35 and with radial lugs 36 uniformly spaced angularly. The spring housing 34 is in the form of a hollow shallow cylinder and the anchor finger 33 is set in a clearance space formed in the circular wall thereof. The thimble 32 is formed with a square eye 3'! to receive the squared portion 24a of the shaft 24. At some instance the shaft 24 is stationary when the housing 34 rotates and thus the spring 3| is wound.

The stationary reel I4 is provided with an annular flange 38 disposed close to the gathering disk 30 on the upper face thereof and the gathering disk, on the under face, carries a pendent annular flange 39 arranged to surround the spring housing 34, this flange being provided with bayonet slots 40 in which the lugs 36 of the spring housing are received. The bayonet slot construction provides for the removal and attachment of the spring housing and when the spring housing is rotated, the lugs bear in the closed ends of the bayonet slots. The transfer roll |3 which is equipped with a ball bearing 4| is disposed in the clearance space 42 in the gathering disk and mounted upon a plate 43, bridging the clearance space and secured to the gathering disk on the under face thereof. The cord passes over the periphery of the transfer roll from the stationary reel M to the movable reel |2.

The ball bearing 44 with which the reel I2 is provided is mounted in the hub 46 of the latter and seats on the circular portion of the shaft 24 below the squared portion 24a, resting against a washer 41 mounted on the shaft. The ball bearing is retained on the shaft and with it the reel |2 by means of the cap 48 which has a square eye 49 seating on the squared lower end 50 of the shaft, a flat head screw 5| passing through the cap and engaging a centrally threaded hole in the shaft.

The top plate |5 serves as a cover or cap plate for the cylindrical housing 52 which encloses the entire mechanism and whose bottom is open at the center, as indicated at 53, to provide a clearance space for access to the bearing cap 48.

" On the bottom of the casing, is mounted a friction cover 54 of soft material to prevent marring of the desk on which the device is used.

On the upper face, the top plate is provided with the jaws 55 which are fixed jaws and with the additional jaw 56 which is adjustable, these fixed and adjustable jaws being for the purpose of securing the telephone in place on the appliance. But the telephone rests upon a composition mat made preferably of Bakelite or equivalent material, this mat being secured to the top plate I5 by screws 58 and formed in two sections, 51a and 51b which are spaced to define a channel 59, the section 51b being slotted, as indicated at 69, to provide clearance spaces for the jaws 55 and 55; The channel 59 is tangential to the circular channel 6|, the inner periphery of which is defined by a disk 510 of the same material as the mat.

The channel 59 for a portion of its extent follows the slot 63 in the top plate l5, this slot being continued into a circular slot 64 terminating adjacent the periphery of the stationary drum l4 and following the outline of the circular channel 6|. The slot 63 constitutes the cord clearance slot, so that the cord may pass from the telephone to the interior of the appliance and out from the latter to the receiver, the receiver cord being brought out through a tangential cord guide 65 hinged at 66 to a block 61 on the periphery of the housing 52 in covering relation to an opening 68 in the wall of the housing. The cord guide 65 is formed with a terminal mouth 69 rounded interiorly and exteriorly but slotted at its periphery, as indicated at 70, so that the cord may be inserted laterally into it, the slot being disposed against the peripheral wall of the housing when the cord guide is at its normal tangential position. A swinging hook member II is mounted on a bracket 72 carried by the housing and engages a pin 13 on the cord guide to retain the latter in its normal tangential position.

The top plate is releasably secured in position at the top of the housing by means of screws 14.

In applying the device to a telephone, the first operation is to loop the receiver cord prior to mounting the telephone between the jaws, that section of the loop running to the telephone being to the left, so that the other run of the cord may be dropped down through the slot 63. The loop is then dropped into the circular channel 6 the telephone connected end of the loop being dropped into a channel 69. Then the telephone is mounted and the adjustable jaw tightened to secure the telephone in place. That portion of the cord dropped through the slot 63 will also pass down through the slot 15 until it rests on top of the gathering disk 30. Then the cord guide 65 is swung open after the release of the latch hook H which will permit the cord to drop into 0 the zone of the guide when the transfer roll passes the point of location of the guide. But during these steps, the spring 3| is extended so that it applies no turning force to the gathering disk, but on being wound up, as it may be by rotating the cap 48 in the direction in which the ratchet wheel l9 permits it to turn, the transfer roll will be moved bodily in a right hand direction as viewed in Figure 19 and the cord will be wound around the stationary reel M. The completion of the winding may then be carried out by rotating the reel l2 right handedly as viewed in Figure 19, when all of the cord will be reeled up until the stop i6 abuts the mouth of the guide which in the meantime has been closed and latched.

In the use of the device thereafter, when the receiver is removed from the telephone, the cord may be unreeled being payed out by the reel |2 against the torsion of the spring 3|, since the reel and gathering disk move as a unit in this operation, being tied together by the cord. The spring 3|, while active, is a light spring so that the cord is retained in extended position without fatigue to the user. But upon return of the receiver to its hook or to the cradle, the spring functions to rotate the gathering disk and the take-up roll rewinds on the stationary reel I4 its previously contained portion of the cord and the rotary reel l2, following, has wound upon it that portion which it previously contained.

Any desired activity in the spring 3| may be secured by the rotation of the bearing cap 48 the desired amount necessary to provide the activity sought.

The invention having been described, what is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In a telephone cord take-up, stationary and rotary reels for receiving intermediate coiled portions of a telephone cord, said reels being in axial alignment with the stationary reel of materially smaller diameter than the rotary reel but positioned above the latter, and a rotatably mounted gathering disk interposed between the two reels and rotating on an axis common with the latter, said gathering disk extending beyond the periphery of the rotary reel and having a segment removed to provide a clearance space, and a transfer r011 rotatable on an axis parallel with that of the disk and reels and disposed in the clearance space, that portion of the cord between the two reels being trained over the transfer roll.

2. In a telephone cord take-up, stationary and. rotary reels for receiving intermediate coiled portions of a telephone cord, a gathering disk interposed between the two reels, and a transfer roll rotatably mounted on the upper face of the gathering disk, the reels and disk having a common axis of rotation and the stationary reel being above the gathering disk, that portion of the cord between the two reels being trained over the transfer roll, a spring for impelling the gathering disk in one direction, a housing enclosing the spring, the spring having one end anchored to the housing, and means effecting a detachable interlocking connection between the housing and the gathering disk and stationarily anchoring that end of the spring unconnected with the housing.

3. In a telephone cord take-up, stationary and rotary reels for receiving intermediate coiled portions of a telephone cord, a gathering disk interposed between the two reels, and a transfer roll rotatably mounted on the upper face of the gathering disk, the reels and disk having a common axis of rotation and the stationary reel being above the gathering disk, that portion of the cord between the two reels being trained over the transfer roll, a spring for impelling the gathering disk in one direction, a housing enclosing the spring, the spring having one end anchored to the housing, and means effecting a detachable interlocking connection between the housing and the gathering disk and stationarily anchoring that end of the spring unconnected with the housing, and a shaft on which the gathering disk and rotary reel are rotatably mounted, said shaft being provided with a cross-sectionally angular shouldered portion, said means comprising a pendent flange on the gathering disk and formed with bayonet slots, lugs on the housing engageable in said bayonet slots, and a collar to which the end of the spring is secured and. which is provided with an eye corresponding to and receiving the angular shouldered portion of the shaft.

4. In a telephone cord take-up, stationary and rotary reels for receiving intermediate coiled portions of a telephone cord, a gathering disk interposed between the two reels, and a transfer roll rotatably mounted on the upper face of the gathering disk, the reels and disk having a common axis of rotation and the stationary reel being above the gathering disk, that portion of the cord between the two reels being trained over the transfer roll, a spring for impelling the gathering disk in one direction, a housing enclosing the spring, the spring having one end anchored to the housing, and means effecting a detachable interlocking connection between the housing and the gathering disk and stationarily anchoring that end of the spring unconnected with the housing, and a shaft on which the disk and. rotary reels are rotatably mounted, said shaft being normally stationary but mounted for turning movement in one direction for manual rotation to increase the activity of the spring.

JAY T. HELLMANN. I 

